24/7 Wall St.

A new 450,000-square foot paint shop, a new stamping press, and other upgrades to the General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) Fairfax plant in Kansas City will cost the company $600 million. Overall in 2013, GM plans to spend $1.5 billion on capital improvements to its North American plants. The company’s global capital spending budget for 2013 totals around $8 billion.

The Fairfax plant employs 3,900 people and built more than 230,000 Chevrolet Malibus and Buick LaCrosse cars in 2012. Over the last 10 years, GM has invested about $2 billion in the plant. More than 12 million vehicles have been built at the plant since its founding in 1945.

GM’s CEO said, “This major investment is a vote of confidence in the employees and leadership of this plant …” and a United Auto Workers official noted, “This commitment to the future of the plant and the workforce is a reminder to all of us that we build the world’s best vehicles, with the world’s best people.”